agellants, which corresponds to that worn in Spain in
Holy Week at the present time by the members of the _Cofradias_,
the face concealed by the high sugar-loaf head-covering, she
continues: "They attach ribbons to their scourges, and usually
their mistresses honor them with their favors. In gaining public
admiration they must not gesticulate with the arm, but only move
the wrist and hand; the blows must be given without haste, and
the blood must not spoil the costume. They make terrible wounds
on their shoulders, from which the blood flows in streams; they
march through the streets with measured steps; they pass before
the windows of their mistresses, where they flagellate themselves
with marvelous patience. The lady gazes at this fine sight
through the blinds of her room, and by a sign she encourages him
to flog himself, and lets him understand how much she likes this
sort of gallantry. When they meet a good-looking woman they
strike themselves in such a way that the blood goes on to her;
this is a great honor, and the grateful lady thanks them.... All
this is true to the letter."

The Countess proceeds to describe other and more genuine
penitents, often of high birth, who may be seen in the street
naked above the waist, and with naked feet on the rough and sharp
pavement; some had swords passed through the skin of their body
and arms, others heavy crosses that weighed them down. She
remarks that she was told by the Papal Nuncio that he had
forbidden confessors to impose such penances, and that they were
due to the devotion of the penitents themselves. (_Relation du
Voyage d'Espagne_, 1692, vol. ii, pp. 158-164.)

The practice of public self-flagellation in church during Lent
existed in Spain and Portugal up to the early years of the
nineteenth century. Descriptions of it will often be met with in
old volumes of travel. Thus, I find a traveler through Spain in
1786 describing how, at Barcelona, he was present when, in Lent,
at a Miserere in the Convent Church of San Felipe Neri on Friday
evening the doors were shut, the lights put out, and in perfect
darkness all bared their backs and applied the discipline,
singing while they scourged themselves, ever louder and harsher
and with ever greater vehemence until in twenty minutes' time the
whole ended in a deep groan. It is